ONE in every three adults in the country is grappling with mental health issues, a survey by the Health Ministry revealed recently.
“So, this would mean one of us is mentally ill?” a colleague queried, while staring ominously at his two workmates. The answer from one of them was an equally sinister and very serious “yes” but instead of concern, it elicited laughter from around the table.
An acquaintance, diagnosed with bipolar disorder, got a “You ni gila ke (You are mad, is it)?” when attempting to explain her unusual shifts in mood, energy, and activity levels to another.
They are often thrown these infuriating one-liners: “It’s all in your imagination,” “stop being so dramatic,” and “post-natal depression is something women make up to gain sympathy”.
Indeed, mental health is a topic which rarely raises flutters of alarm. It is instead almost always perceived as a joke, something amusing, even hilarious. Gotham City’s villainous The Joker even gave mental illness a certain veneer of cool.
But, there is really nothing funny or edgy about mental illness. Just because there often isn’t a physical symptom or manifestation of the illness does not mean it is not serious, or worse, an imagined malady that is “all in your head”.
The ministry’s National Health Morbidity Survey found that the increase in the number of mental health patients has been drastic — two-fold from just a decade ago. Now, 4.2 million out of 14.4 million Malaysians aged 16 and above have mental health issues. There has also been a spike in cases among women.
Still think it’s all in the head? Take a look at recent news headlines and stories: Just two months ago, a grandmother had her head decapitated and limbs severed by a relative in Kota Tinggi; a woman dragged her 3-year-old son and jumped off the 32nd floor of an apartment in Kuala Lumpur, and a religious school teacher was stabbed and slashed by her son in Setapak Jaya.
These cases, and many other unspeakably violent acts and crimes, are not spurred by greed or rage — they are the products of unstable minds. At least one crime or act of desperation reported in the media on any given day is likely committed by one grappling with something unseen, but is as real to them as the crushing pain of a cardiac arrest.
This worrying scenario has prompted the government to formulate a National Mental Health Strategic Action Plan to identify the “whys” and lay out the “hows” of tackling the problem. This is praiseworthy but we don’t really need task forces and committees to tell us why cases are spiking.
While there may be biological triggers, people these days become ill largely due to their inability to cope with the travails of development and modernity.
Our everything-now lives make it impossible to disconnect. We are in communication at all hours of the day with our colleagues, children’s teachers, their friends’ parents, relatives, in-laws, neighbours, and ex-classmates through that abomination called social media. Whatsapp has made it possible, even normal and acceptable, to be contactable at all times, with replies expected courtesy of that other foul advancement — the blue ticks. We are now privy to unwelcome histrionics, private thoughts, and PTA politics through Whatsapp and that other vile innovation — Telegram.
There is that innate pressure to be available 24/7, and anxiety for not responding immediately to texts or posts. Even teenagers are so emotionally invested in social media that they wake up at night to log on, just to make sure they don’t “miss out”. Many no longer remember a time when leaving home or the office would render them completely unreachable.
Unrelenting messages coupled with other life stresses — rising cost of living, unemployment, political disharmony, marital woes, examinations, the impending threat of World War 3 and Donald Trump — can easily send anyone off the edge.
The mentally ill should not just be dismissed as “gila”. If not given due attention, they are capable of hurting and killing, not just others but also themselves. I should know: I was punched square in the face by one while on assignment some years ago.
Our first step is to recognise that this is a very real problem. Next is to remedy it with compassion and in more serious cases, medication and rehabilitation.
This award-winning columnist takes a light and breezy look at hot, everyday topics. A law grad turned journalist, she is now NST Associate Editor News